Turf management safety shoe

ABSTRACT

A safety shoe includes a slip resistant sole to reduce loss of footing while mowing grass. The shoe further includes a safety cage shoe upper connected with the sole. The safety cage protects the foot from damage from a rotating mower blade. The safety cage is made of a shear resistant shoe upper and is held to the foot by a securing mechanism of sufficient strength to keep the safety cage intact during an impact with a rotating mower blade. The safety cage is supplemented by metal toe protection to further protect the toes of the wearer. The safety cage is further supplemented by a high strength shoe sole to add rigidity to the safety cage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of protectivefootwear, and more particularly to safety shoes that combine slippageand shearing force protection for users of lawn mowers and other turfmanagement equipment.

[0002] Turf management, and particularly grass mowing, has a longhistory of foot injuries. The Consumer Protection Safety Commission'sYear 2000 statistics reveal over 3,000 injuries to the foot caused bylawn mower accidents. While there are many types of injuries that canresult from lawn mower accidents, the most serious by far is lacerationresulting from the moving blade directly contacting the foot. Slipsresulting from a condition of the grass such as wetness or thickness, aninclined surface, or hazards such as rocks, sidewalk edges, or hiddendepressions can all lead to a foot sliding under the mower andcontacting a moving mower blade. The problem is compounded by the factthat most people mow their lawns while wearing shoes that provideminimal protection to the foot.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

[0003] Conventional walking shoes that are designed for use on hard andrelatively flat indoor or outdoor surfaces have soles that often becomeslippery on wet grass or more inclined surfaces. They also have uppersthat are normally made of light-weight materials and provide little orno protection from a rapidly rotating cutting blade.

[0004] The prior art provides only partial solutions to the aboveproblem and does not address it in a comprehensive manner. U.S. Pat. No.6,035,557 to Mills discloses safety shoes which can provide slipresistance. This specific design is to protect against slips while on aroof. U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,011 to Bowerman discloses athletic shoes withcleats to provide lateral stability, but these shoes are not designedprimarily or suitable for industrial applications such as lawn mowing.

[0005] Various shoe configurations and constructions to afford footprotection are also known in the prior art. Some safety shoes provide areinforced toe box to protect the front part of the foot. U.S. Pat. No.4,870,762 to Lee sets forth a safety shoe with a toe box particularlyadapted to protect the toes from a crush injury. The Aleven U.S. Pat.No. 5,285,583 teaches a safety shoe insole to protect against punctureinjury. U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,802 to Reynolds teaches a safety shoe forprotecting the upper portion of the foot from cutting injures,specifically for chain saw users.

[0006] The safety shoes described in the prior art do not specificallyaddress the particular requirements for protecting the foot against arotating mower blade. They also do not provide soles that adequatelyprotect against slips while mowing a lawn. The present invention wasdeveloped in order to overcome these and other drawbacks of conventionalwork shoes by providing a turf management safety shoe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention relates a safety shoe that provides slipresistance on grass coupled with a hardened safety cage for that part ofthe foot that is most susceptible to injury from a rotating mower blade.The shoe is designed to protect the foot from a rotating mower blade byproviding adequate shear protection.

[0008] The safety shoe according to the invention includes a shearresistant sole having a plurality of cleats affixed to the bottomthereof, and a shear resistant upper connected to the sole, the upperhaving a reinforced toe box and reinforcing material extending upwardlyfrom the sole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from a study of the following specification when viewed inlight of the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0010]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a safety shoe according to a firstembodiment of the invention;

[0011]FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the toe area of the shoe ofFIG. 1.

[0012]FIG. 3 is a side plan view of a safety shoe according to a secondembodiment of the invention; and

[0013]FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the shoe of either FIG. 1 or FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] The preferred embodiment of a safety shoe that protects the footof the wearer from injury by a lawn mower or other turf managementequipment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The shoe 12includes a lower sole 14 which supports the wearer's foot and an upper16 which is connected with the sole in a conventional manner. At the toeend, the shoe includes a protective toe box 18 formed of a rigidmaterial such as metal. Suitable metals include steel, aluminum,titanium or other hard, rigid metal. The forward portion of the upper isconnected with the interior surface of the toe box as shown in FIG. 2.Any suitable fastener such as adhesive may be used to connect the upperwith the toe box. Laces 20 are provided to tie the shoe onto thewearer's foot.

[0015] The sole 14 is preferably formed of a high strength material suchas fiber-reinforced synthetic plastic material or leather to resistshear by a rotating lawn mower blade. The bottom of the sole containsapertures for receiving cleats 22 which provide traction to the wearerwhile operating lawn equipment. The cleats may be formed in any desiredconfigurations and from any suitable material. For example, the cleats22 in FIG. 1 are truncated cones which are similar to football cleats.They may be formed from the same material as the sole or any othermaterial such as metal. While the cleats may be removably connected withthe sole in a conventional manner for easy replacement, they could alsobe integrally formed with the sole by molding or the like.

[0016] The shoe upper is preferably formed of a durable material such asKEVLAR material, leather, synthetic leather or the like. Although canvasmay be used, KEVLAR or leather materials are preferred because of theirincreased protective properties.

[0017]FIG. 3 illustrates an alternate embodiment of a safety shoe 112which is similar to the shoe of FIG. 1 in that it includes a sole 114,an upper 116 and a toe box 118. However, this shoe includes buckles orVELCRO fasteners 124 and cleats 122 which are more pointed such asold-style metal golf cleats. It will be apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art that various types of conventional fasteners may beused secure the shoe onto the wearer's foot.

[0018]FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred arrangement of cleats on the bottomof the shoe of FIG. 1. Any suitable arrangement of cleats may be usedfor either embodiment.

[0019] Foot injures occur when a foot passes under the protectivehousing of a mower that contains the rotating blade. The area of thefoot that is the most susceptible to injury from a rotating lawn mowerblade is the toe area which might enter the housing if the mower rollsbackwards. Another particularly susceptible area is the bottom of thefoot, which might enter the housing if the operator should fall or slip.Accordingly, the safety shoe as described in FIGS. 1-4 emphasizes theprotection of these specific areas, and more particularly emphasizesprotecting these areas from the shear forces resulting from impact by arotating lawn mower blade. Protection is provided by a safety cagearound the toes, sides and bottom of the foot comprising the toe box 18,118, reinforced uppers 16, 116 and the sole 14, 114. The maximization ofshear strength, rather than compressive strength, best protects the toesfrom a rotating blade.

[0020] In addition to having a high level of shear resistance, the shoeupper 16, 116 is somewhat flexible to provide comfort and motion. Theelements of a safety cage as described herein act as a unit andcomplement each other to maximize the strength of the shoe and theprotection it affords to the foot. Each portion of the shoe providesseparate protective attributes against injuries caused by a rotatingmower blade. The safety cage design assures that the sole, the toe box,the method of affixing the shoe to the foot of the wearer, and the upperwork together as a system to structurally complement each other.

[0021] The connections between each component of the shoe must be ofsufficient strength and design to insure that the connections will notbecome points of failure under the extreme shear forces that the systemwould be exposed to in the event of an accident. The connections mustallow the components of the safety cage to work in unison to maintainmaximum shear protection and allow shear forces to be distributed to theother components of the safety cage to minimize damage to the wearer'sfoot.

[0022] A shoe as described herein provides two levels of protection. Theslip resistant sole reduces the possibility of a slip that can lead to afoot being placed in harm's way. Hardening of the shoe reduces theprobability of a laceration injury caused by the unintended impact of arotating lawn mower blade. It must be understood, however, that a shoeaccording to the invention will not prevent all lawn mower injuries. Thepossibility of a cutting injury is reduced, but cannot be entirelyeliminated by a shoe as described above. Further, the very nature of theprotection afforded by a shoe as described above may alter the form ofinjury that is caused by the impact of a rotating mower blade that, asis well known, has substantial kinetic energy. If the shoe is notpenetrated, that energy may cause trauma taking the form of bruising, ormuscle ligament, or bone damage. It is readily apparent, however, thatsuch injuries are highly likely to be much less serious and more quicklyrecovered from than would be a lacerating trauma.

[0023] While the preferred forms and embodiments of the invention havebeen illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art that various changes and modifications may be madewithout deviating from the inventive concepts set forth above.

What is claimed is:
 1. A safety shoe, comprising: (a) a shear resistantsole; (b) a plurality of cleats connected with the bottom of said sole;and (c) a shear resistant upper connected with the sole, said upperhaving a reinforced toe box in a toe area of the shoe and reinforcingmaterial extending upwardly from the sole along side portions of theshoe rearwardly of said toe box.
 2. A shoe as defined in claim 1,wherein said toe box is reinforced with a rigid metal.
 3. A shoe asdefined in claim 1, wherein said reinforcing material of said upper isleather.
 4. A shoe as defined in claim 1, wherein said reinforcingmaterial of said upper is KEVLAR material.
 5. A shoe as defined in claim1, and further comprising means for securing a foot within the shoe. 6.A shoe as defined in claim 5, wherein said securing means compriseslaces.
 7. A shoe as defined in claim 5, wherein said securing meanscomprises buckles.
 8. A shoe as defined in claim 5, wherein saidsecuring means comprises VELCRO fasteners.